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Capturing Jasmina, fiction for young adult readers by Kimberly Rae, is the story of Jasmina, a young girl in India, and her brother, Samir. The children are sold by their father to a man promising them an education and good jobs.

But, as Jasmina and Samir soon discover, the man is providing an education, not in a school, but as a slave in his sweatshop garment factory. While Samir quickly submits to his new life of misery, Jasmina never stops planning an escape.

She comes to realize that escape doesn’t always mean freedom.

Quick review

The blurb will tell you this is about a girl and her experiences as a child slave in India. What it doesn’t tell you is that half the book rushes through three years in superficial detail, then describes the work of missionaries and their converts. On the one hand, the subject matter (i.e. child trafficking) is one that deserves attention; on the other, I felt like I was reading an extended Christian propaganda pamphlet. Despite the heavy subject matter, I found myself feeling nothing throughout the book. Skip to the video at the end of the review to really feel something. Overall, I would maybe recommend this to children ages 9-13, and from a religious background.

Not so quick review

Warning: some spoilers ahead

I almost don’t want to write this review, but I did agree to do it. If I’m honest, I struggled to read this book, as it felt slow while still being short. There was no emotion in it at all. The only reason I’ve given it 2* instead of 1* is because the subject matter –child trafficking– is one that needs so much more attention.

From the blurb, I expected to read more of the hardships Jasmina endured. However, that was pretty glossed over, and most of it seemed like her hearing about the rescue work the missionaries did. I expected more about Jasmina, her struggles and what she did, but she played the bystander, narrating what others did for half the book. When it did talk about what she went through, it was very quick and detached, and I felt sympathy for what she went through, but I didn’t feel empathy. You know when you’re reading a really good book and actually feel the suffering of a character? Or maybe the character goes through a tough, exciting ordeal, and you feel yourself tensing up and holding your breath. I didn’t feel anything reading this..

I didn’t realise, from the blurb, that it would be missionary propaganda. I mean, I appreciate the work they’re doing to rescue street children and sex slaves, but this was more like an extended educational brochure used to advertise their work. Nowhere in the blurb did it prepare me for so much propaganda. I’m not a religious person, but I have nothing against other people being religious. What frustrates me is preaching, and I felt like this book was preachy. I think maybe a prerequisite to reading this book is faith.

I expected a scary and exciting plot, with Jasmina dodging traffickers at every turn, meeting other street children and forming alliances. I expected her to find her brother, rescue him and then, in the end, find a place of safety. Instead, Jasmina had basically found safety halfway through the book, and the rest was her talking about the missionaries. And it wasn’t even an exciting event when she found them. She stumbled across some women praying and followed them around, and then they just let her walk into their compound. Seriously?

Rae also suffered from the curse of the child narrator. Jasmina seemed to have too much insight into what was happening in her life, which wasn’t believable. When she admitted ignorance, it was too superficial. Any suspicions she had of the people, situations and food she came across were passed over too quickly. At one point, she’s taken to a table of food in the compound, and she’s told she can have whatever she wants. She doesn’t take anything, thinking about how traffickers drug food to capture girls for brothels (how does she know that?), but some guy says it’s safe, and she just reaches out and piles food on her plate. She even picks up something she’s never seen before (a chocolate chip cookie) and just eats it. So much for that deep suspicion and hard heart she keeps saying she has!

Towards the end, there were a couple of chapters describing Jasmina and her two friends from the compound going out to rescue a baby. I wish the rest of the book was like those two chapters, as they had a bit more action and excitement. They were also the only two chapters that I felt were written with the voice of a 13-year-old. The characters managed to have a personality! If the whole book was like that, I would have rated it at least 3*. Shame, isn’t it?

All in all, I don’t recommend this book, except maybe for children ages 9-13. It would also help if you were religious, preferably Christian.

That being said, I think child trafficking is a very important problem that needs more attention. One organisation that I hold in high esteem is Love146. If you want to feel something, watch the video below about how they came to be. It makes me tear up!

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0: Couldn't finish1: Want my precious reading hours back2: Could have done without it3: It was good, but it's not an essential read4: Really liked it and glad I picked it up5: Absolutely loved it and would read again

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